Tamarind

Another restaurant doing the credit crunch special.

Food

We had the Sunday tasting menu, and there was way too much food for two, since I made the mistake of having a big breakfast earlier. It didn’t help that we ordered some Whole wheat crisps and chickpeas with mint chutney, sweetened yoghurt and tamarind chutney , or poppadums, to start either, but mainly because we wanted to compare it with Café Spice Namaste…and the winner is….Cafe Spice. The poppadoms themselves were quite light and tasty, but the condiments were not even on par with Café Spice. And, for the first time at an Indian restaurant, we got an amuse! Don’t get too excited though, it was just pumpkin Soup with Saffron, which was actually quite boring. Before too long, our meal arrived, and consisted of:

• Crispy fried vegetable patties with ginger and coriander stem, served with tomato chutney - this was quite ordinary, the pattie is like a vege burger pattie, but with a bit more spice.
• Sesame coated tilapia fillets with ginger, garlic, rice flour and curry leaves, served with mint chutney - again, not very exciting. I think I was expecting a lot more – well, they do have a Michelin star afterall.
• Boneless lamb simmered in gravy of onion, tomato and freshly ground peppercorns - my absolute favourite. I can see where they got that Michelin star from now. The lamb was melt in the mouth, te sauce was quick and concentrated in flavour, with a subtle chilli hit.
• Tandoor grilled chicken supreme with mustard oil, ginger, garlic and pickling spices; served on salad leaves - a little bit lacklustre if you ask me. Still, I was so full I could hardly eat this.
• Yellow lentils with cumin, tomato, garlic and fresh fenugreek leaves - nto as good as the Café Spice daal.
• Seasonal vegetables in a gravy of onion, cashew and spices, finished with saffron - nothing exciting here. The seasoning is actually quite mild.
• Baby potatoes stir fried with cumin, chilli and fresh coriander - I was expecting more, these were very ordinary.
• Steamed basmati rice
• Tandoori roti - not as nice as naan, but this was executed very well.
• Pistachio Kulfi served drizzled with mango coulis - nice and refreshing, not as sweet as other’s I’ve had…but I still prefer ice-cream.

So…not as good as I expected, since Café Spice Namaste and Lahore are both pretty much on par.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

A bit too formal and stuffy for me. The décor must’ve been very nice once, but now looks like it is in need for some refurbishment. The tables were too close together for my liking…in fact, I was listening to everything the vegetarian couple next to us were saying, and it was very interesting. There is a semi-open kitchen down one end of the dining room, but we weren’t seated anywhere near it to benefit from the view.

Rating - 1.5

Service

As expected, the waiters were very polite and attentive. I did feel they were hovering around somewhat, but this could be due to the fact that most of the restaurant was empty for a long time that we were there.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Not too bad considering we got lots of food. Their normal menu certainly isn’t cheap though.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

20 Queen Street
London
W1J 5PR
Phone +44 (0) 20 7629 3561
Website

Ping Pong Appold Street

Food

Back again, and all because Ping Pong is running one of their opening specials. Not only were we able to get the cocktails for free, we lot to do “Lazy Sunday” on a weeknight….and that is now we ended up eating the huge list of food below:

• Blackcurrant and hibiscus royale (£6.29) - Finlandia vodka, Chambord, blackcurrant and hibiscus iced tea topped with Veuve Delaroy Champagne - was really bad…tasted like medicine. So it just proves expensive is not necessary better.
• Pear and cinnamon (£6.19) - José Cuervo tradicional tequila, pear purée and apple juice sprinkled with toasted cinnamon - very funny, refreshing pair with a hint of sweetness
• Wasabi peanuts (£1.09) - Large peanuts coated in crispy spicy horseradish - I love wasabi peanuts, and these have a real kick
• Chicken wonton soup (£3.19) - Light broth with chicken wontons - these have good quality meat…and maybe that’s the problem….the meat is too good quality so didn’t give the wontons that fatty, slimy taste. These wontons were so solid and I am sure actually good for you.
• Hot and sour soup with quail (£3.19) - A hot and sour soup with quail, goji berries, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts - not that hot, and tasted quite strange with the goji berries.
• Lamb ‘Yuen Yen Ton’ soup (£3.19) - Sichuan pepper lamb with asparagus, baby corn, Chinese leaf in a sour soy soup - I like this a lot. The soup was tangy and a little spicy.
• Lamb puff (£3.29) - Tender lamb braised in soy sauce and Sichuan pepper in hand made puff pastry glazed with honey - small balls of puff that actually pack in a lot of flavour
• Spinach and beef dumpling (£3.39) - Beef and spinach with ginger paste in ginger sauce in wheat flour pastry - we hadn’t tried these before, and I was a bit sketical considering they were fried. But they were very nice, with good quality ingredients and not oil soaked as I expected
• Crispy Thai chicken spring roll (£2.99) - Chicken and prawns with chilli, coriander and lemongrass wrapped in bean curd skin and served with chilli fish sauce - we had these before, and they were kinda oily with not much in terms of filling, Thrills only for the crunch.
• Crispy prawn ball (£3.39) - Chopped king prawns and spring onions in shredded egg pastry served with sweet and sour sauce - a bit too oily for me, but has fresh taste of prawns
• Har gau (£3.19) - King prawns and bamboo shoots in translucent white pastry - the pastry seems to be done less well here than at St Katherines Dock.
• Scallop and shitake dumpling (£3.39) - Scallops and king prawns with shitake mushrooms in wheat flour pastry - ditto.
• Pork Shu mai (£3.39) - Pork and king prawns in an open pastry topped with a Chinese wolfberry - excellent.
• Seafood dumpling (£3.39) - Snow crab, prawns and scallops in carrot pastry - not the best dumpling, but good enough on a buffet menu 
• Soft shell crab (£4.29) - Whole soft shell crab in a crispy coating - we ordered a lot – since you only get a tiny portion each time.
• Spinach and mushroom dumpling (£2.99) - Spinach and mushrooms seasoned with ginger and garlic in wheat flour pastry - still one of my favourite dumplings
• Choy sum (£3.19) - Steamed choy sum in soy sauce topped with garlic - I knew if this wasn’t a buffet, I would never order this. But we got our fill of the vegetables – which were a little oily, but fresh.
• Crispy aubergine (£3.29) - Fried marinated aubergine chunks with garlic and sesame oil - quite a large portion and a little too heavy on the batter.
• Ramen noodles
  and poached salmon (£3.99) - Poached salmon with baby spinach with ramen noodles tossed in a sesame soy dressing with fresh basil and lemon - this was lovely. The salmon was fresh and generous with a yummy dressing. I skipped the ramen though.
• Pak choy (£3.19) - Steamed pak choy in ginger and garlic sauce - yummy vegetables, but we were getting quite full to do it justice

Slokky actually ordered the Seafood Rice and Prawn Toast as well, but as I didn’t have the stomach to sample it, I refrained from writing it down.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

Well, all the Ping Pongs look the same. We were unfortunately put in a very bad position, close to the door and very close to two other talbe, as we had only 2 people, even though some of the bigger, better table were empty. I like the St Katherine’s space in terms of layout better, but I guess you have to work with the space you’ve got.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Our waiter was certainly honest, and tried to advise everyone to order so they could get the best deal. When he forgot to give us our drinks for free, he freely admitted to his mistakes. He actually made our meal more memorable, definitely something I didn’t expect from Ping Pong.

Rating - 4

C-factor

We had the "lazy Sunday" on a weeknight, and got our cocktails for free. The final bill came to £34.99, good value in my books considering how much we ate. I would never order some of these items, such as the wasabi peas, if it wasn’t all you can eat though, as they are definitely overpriced.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 13.5

Info

3 Appold Street
London
EC2A 2AF
Phone +44 (0) 20 7422 0780
Website

Athenaeum

I had heard some very good things about Athenaeum…about their toilets, so I had no idea what to expect about the food.

Food

We started with some really gorgeous champagne, which put us in the mood for their 3 course seasonal menu. We feasted on the generous basket of Sun-Dried Tomato, Brown and White Bread while we waited for the stragglers to arrive and while we tried to attract the waiter’s attention.

For starters, all the girls decided to go for the Smoked Lamb Salad. I have to say, it was indeed very smoky, so smoky in fact it didn’t really taste that much like lamb. All the boys went for the Deep Fried Cornish Brie with Raspberry Dressing, typical, but it was not as heavy as I thought it would be. The brie taste was not that strong.

I didn’t go for the sea bass for main like the rest of the girls, instead opting for the Pork Belly of Confit with Spring Vegetables and Potato Hash. The pork was a little salty, but the texture was melt in the mouth. The vegetables tasted fresh but did not really go with the pork. The boys were unanimous again and had the Char Grilled Medallions of Venison, Wild Mushroom Rosti, Creamed Spinach and Port Sauce, which was definitely my favourite dish. Melt in the mouth venison, very unlike the fillets you are used to. The rosti was perfect. The creamed spinach was a bit of an oversight, but who cares when everything else was so good.

Desserts…. Treacle Tart with Devonshire Clotted Cream, I thought the clotted cream tasted off, but supposedly it was because it was churned with the top layer…not really do my taste. The Selection of British Cheeses with Celery, Grapes, Crackers, Breads and Date and Onion Chutney was definitely very nice, with the brie and blue the standouts. They were quite generous, so we couldn’t finish the plate. I went for the Peppermint Tea as they were known for their excellent high teas, but besides the very cute and nice teacup and saucer, this was your ordinary tea. Slokky’s Cappuccino was not bad. I’ve had much worst, including at two Michelin star restaurants. This was quite standard and pleasant really. I really didn’t need the Bitter Chocolate Truffles but good chocolate just can’t go to waste.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

It’s all very art-deco in there, with high back, scallop like chairs, mosaics on the walls, glittery mirror. All very old time glam. Not that busy on Wednesday night, I guess not many people knew about the deal they are running. The bathrooms were cool, but not as grand as I had imagine. So they have a powder room with nice chairs and mirrors, some lovely old time wallpaper, the usual hand lotion, and also individual bottles of mouthwash. I think what was more impressive was definitely the expensive bottles of champagne you walk pass on the way to the dining room 

Rating - 2.5

Service

The waiters were all very nice, it’s just too bad they didn’t perform well, but I think they did try to rectify their mistakes, so it least they didn’t sour the experience. It was definitely difficult to attract the attention of the wait staff, even though we were seated very centrally – I blame those columns they have in the dining room that obstructs the view. It took us ages before we could flag one down to order. Two people did not want champagne and the waiter offered orange juice substitute, however this was not delivered. When we finally attracted their attention to tell them that, they fixed it up quickly and were very apologetic. The same thing happened with the bill, it took us so so long before we could attract anyone’s attention! But when we finally did get the bill, they sorted out our convoluted cash + credit card + tip arrangement well, and sent us off with very warm farewells.

Rating - 3

C-factor

The toptable deal at Athenaeum was generous. We had 3 courses, champagne, coffee and chocolate for £23…and they don’t have a compulsory service charge, but of course we gave them a tip.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

116 Piccadilly
London
W1J 7BJ
Phone +44 (0) 20 7499 3464
Website

Sake no Hana

I was very keen to check out this relative newbie from Alan "Wagamama" Yau. I had been warned that it was seriously expensive, but then again, the food was supposed to be worth it, and it would be nice to compare it with Cha Cha Moon

Food

The menu itself is divided into different cooking methods, rather than your traditional entrée/main…etc. You can pick and choose what you like to make your own meal. We weren’t sure how big the portions were, so we picked and chose from different parts of the menu based on what we thought we wanted to try. We had:

• Gandara Dream (£9.50) - Kumquats, Diplomatico Reserva rum, Don Julio Silver tequila, Umeshu plum liqueur, almond sugar and green tea - really yum, but not that different to the one I had at Ping Pong
• Virgin Daruma Yama (£4) - Nashi pear, fresh apple juice and Calpico - sweet, like eating nashi pears, and very refreshing. Probably too much ice for my liking.
• Japanese mountain yam with okra and cod roe (£6.50) - a great introduction to things to come. Delicate, crunchy yam paired with some subtle cod roe that adds a hint of saltiness. The okra added another textural layer, but there was so little of it I didn’t think it was probably more for decoration.
• Courgette flower tempura (£3) - beautiful crisp courgette with a delicate coating, and the most amazing dipping sauce. I wanted to pick up my bowl and drink the whole thing up.
• Soft-Shell Crab Salad with Wasabi Dressing (£9) - the crab itself was not that meaty, but it was fried to perfection, and the salad had this wonderful wasabi dressing.
• Sushi Nigiri Fatty tuna (£5) and Yellowtail (£4) - the yellowtail was a bit ordinary, but the fatty tuna was definitely a revelation…yum.
• Futomaki (£8.50) - this was nicer than your £2 sushi, with nice ingredients, but didn’t really wow at all. I blame myself for ordering this.
• Gomoku Rice (£5) - had no explanation on the menu, and we had to ask the waiter. She highly recommended it, and I agree it was one of the best rice dishes ever. Sushi rice combined with egg, shitake mushroom and a killer soy sauce.
• Steamed Sea Bream (£8.50) - ws delicately steamed in a sake broth. The sauce was very subtle, with some green soba as pairing, which again didn’t have much flavour. A little piece of carrot and mushroom made the dish looked cute.
• Shiso soufflé with soya ice cream (£6.50) - very nice flavour, like seaweed soufflé! The soya ice-cream tasted very watery…but the soufflé was enough.
• Warm chocolate torte with matcha ice cream (£6.50) - airy and light, with strong chocolate flavour. The matcha ice-cream was a bit small, so I didn’t taste much of it.

All in all, a very good meal that has come closest to reflecting the taste of the real Japan outside Japan.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Well, they have definitely nailed the wow factor. You enter through a reception area, decked out in black, with some red flower arrangement cutting through. You can go up some escalators to arrive at the main dining space. And it is really beautiful. Very high ceilings, with a lattice wood pattern acting as a focal point and serving a useful purpose as a noise dampener. We didn’t really need to worry about the noise though, as the place wasn’t even half filled, and we were quite spaced apart from the next table, so it is very comfortable. The tables themselves are divided into the conventional style, and also the Japanese sunken table style, which is never that comfortable but definitely looks good. It’s quite an adventure (a long adventure, so make sure you leave plenty of time) to go to the loo too. One more thing, the music was excellent, upbeat, but not disco like.

Rating - 3

Service

Lots of Asian looking wait-staff, with horrible looking uniform, kinda like a modern kimono look, but probably only looks good on models. I admire the staff as they have to take off their shoes every time they served us. Watching them balance a tray and take off their shoes and put it on without dropping anything was definitely entertaining. I was a bit disappointed they didn’t offer to explain the menu in terms of how much to order, and what some of the stuff were. We had to ask, and they offer nothing.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

Sake No Hana definitely has the wow factor. From the opulent decor to the exquisite and delicate food. Just don't look at the bill or you will ruin your evening.. Our water was £4.50, but it was 800ml… so I guess that’s not too bad. If it wasn’t for our 50% toptable discount, this would be just about the most expensive meal ever, and we weren’t even that full!

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 13

Info

23 St James's Street
London
SW1A 1LP
Phone +44 (0) 20 7925 8988
Website

Story Deli

Food

Coffee seems to be the main trade of this place. There’s not much on the menu. Pizza or salad, and a few cakes and stuff to go with the coffee. We chose the Chorizo and Egg (£11) – chorizo, spinach leaves, egg, potatoes, chilli, dressing, aubergine, potato, which is more likened to a jumble of salad ingredients, with some melted cheese, on a crispy pita bread rather than a “pizza”. Indeed, as a pizza, it fails miserably. The crust is too thin, there is too much topping which made the base soggy, and too heavy generally. As a salad though, it works quite well, good quality ingredients that speak for themselves, with the egg just cooked so the yolk ran over to act as the dressing for all the leaves.

Top marks though, for their coffee. Our cappuccino (£3) was wonderfully smooth and not too hot! So at least they do their core business well.

Rating - 6.5 (because of coffee)

Atmosphere

We paid for the privilege of perching on a £15 cardboard stool (yes, you can of course buy it there)., and eat on a jumble of mismatched, junk-yard like tables. The kitchen is situated upstairs in this warehouse like space. Everyone eating there were Brick Lane friendly, so I guess if you want to be cool, this was the place you go to.

Rating - 2

Service

Dead casual, but the system seems to work quite well most of the time. There was one waiter and one cook, with some “friends” who seem to drop by to help out. Luckily we arrived before the crowd (at 1:30 pm for lunch!!), and got served quite promptly. We saw everyone having to wait at least 10 minutes before they got a menu, and even longer of course to get their orders taken.

Rating - 2

C-factor

They have a thing of pricing everything only in pence, so our pizza was 1100p instead of £11. I don’t know if that’s a ploy to make it look cheaper or not, or just to be “cool” again. I’m afraid the prices are too cool for me. It was great to have once for the experience, but for that money, I can dine better elsewhere.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 11

Info

3 Dray Walk
The Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London
E1 6QL
Phone +44 (0) 20 7247 3137

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

As the newspapers have been telling us for weeks, the good thing about the credit crunch is that the top restaurants are running special menu for the mere mortals out there, and I, of course, jumped at the opportunity.

Food

L’Atelier provides a 3 course pre-theatre menu with two choices for each course. We nearly didn’t make the menu as, although I was seated before 7, Slokky was running late. Luckily I pleaded with the waiter who relented, so I had one of the best meals I have ever had.

I really enjoyed the Les Poireaux - Leeks terrine, beetroot vinaigrette. I never knew you could get so much flavours into the leek, but there you go. Slokky still viewed it as onions, so it wasn’t to his taste. He preferred the L’Oeuf Frit - Deep fried hen eggs served with dry fruits, pine kernel and salad - of course, with a wonderful concoction of egg sitting on top of some delicious salad.

The La Truite de Mer - Pan fried sea trout with shallots, olive oil crushed potatoes - again hit the mark, enhanced by the side ingredients. I think it’s the best when the ingredients seem so simple, yet you have no idea how they got it to taste the way that it does. The L'Agneau - Confit leg of lamb, coco beans came with a side dish of the most delectable beans. I would be happy if I just ate that, but the lamb was nicely done. I’ve had lots of lambs in my lifetime, and this one is probably in the top 10%.

After watching the float of desserts before me, I was really looking forward to it. The dessert of the day was 5 tarts – chocolate coconut pistachio cream, lemon, chocolate, cinnamon. My favourites were the lemon and the coconut pistachio. The cheese of the day, Blue cheese (from somewhere in France but I forget the name), bread and berry compote was also yum. I wish there was a bit more variety though.

Rating - 9

Atmosphere

Having walked past a L’Atelier in Paris, I can report that all of them look very similar. All based around the theme of a totally open kitchen, where you perch on stools to watch the chefs at work. Indeed, the waiters serve you from inside the kitchen, and the chefs sometimes serve you directly.

Unfortunately, as we were the last of the pre-theatre crowd, there was no room at the kitchen, so we had to perch on some normal chairs, where we can kinda see the heads of the chefs, but not what they were doing. It was definitely too early to spot any celebrities, but there were definitely quite a few French speakers there.

Rating - 2.5

Service

I was very surprised. As usual, the waiters were French…well, it seems like everyone in that place was French somehow anyway. The waiters were thoughtful but relaxed, and not the stuffy formal kind. I really like this, it is refreshing and modern, and just what is needed. They are obviously proud to be working there, because they would smile broadly at us every time they walked past with someone else’s dessert, and advertise what it was that we could get. The only "stuffiness" that we got was from the

Rating - 4

C-factor

£25 for the 3 course pre-theatre menu, otherwise it’s £80 for the degustation or even more for a-la carte. I do believe that the place is special, and I applaud them for making it more accessible than a once a year experience.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 16.5

Info

13-15 West Street
London
WC2H 9NE
Phone +44 (0) 20 7010 8600
Website

The Plough Inn

Hillsborough was a nice little town with some pretty buildings, that seemed quite lively on a late Sunday afternoon.

Food

I was hankering for seafood, so chose the Dundrum Bay Mussels, served with a garlic and white wine cream (£6.25). I got quite a bit of mussel, and they taste very different to the New Zealand types you usually get in Oz, and also to the ones we got in France. The mussels were smaller, but had this very fresh taste, without that seafood smell. The sauce, suitably, was light, allowing the flavour of the mussel to shine through. The Deep-Fried Whitebait with Asian Salad and lemon and parsley mayo, which came as part of the 2 course menu (£16.95), were also nice and fresh, with a tangy and pleasant mayo. I kept with the seafood theme for my main of Grilled Langoustines, with avocado and rocket salad (£15.95), which was a bit ordinary really. The langoustines (2) were kinda small and kinda mushy. The salad was nice and fresh though. The Succulent Roast Sirloin of beef with creamy champ, chasseur sauce and Yorkshire Pudding, on the specials menu, didn’t really stand out, but wasn’t bad. The champ was pretty nice, as only bacon and potato can be. Vegetables of Roast potato, creamed cauliflower, carrot, squash, peppers, beans were really plain, I didn’t think they were even dressed, and seemed to be an afterthought and not on par with the meal itself.

I was very satisfied, but Slokky wanted dessert, so we ordered the Trio of Asian Brulee, passionfruit, pear and coconut (£4.95). I think the coconut flavour worked well, other than that, I prefer plain rather than the other flavours.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

The place was huge, and really buzzing for like 5pm on a Sunday night. Does everyone dine early in Northern Ireland? There are a few long rooms linked together, with a central bar (this was still a pub, though a fancy one at that). The décor is Ikea funky.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Compared to the service we received from Deane’s, this was actually quite good. The waiters came several times to make sure we were ok – but the problem was that all the different waiters came to ask us the same thing, so we ended up having to repeat it to a few different people. They were all good and efficient individually, but they probably need to work out which sections they should serve to avoid repeating themselves.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

I thought Northern Ireland was going to be cheaper than London, but from what I’ve seen, it seems to be actually more expensive.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 10.5

Info

3 The Square
Hillsborough
BT26 6AG
Phone +44 (0) 28 9268 2985
Website

Deane’s Restaurant

This is Michael Deane’s flagship restaurant.

Food

Things didn’t start off great. The amuse-bouche that we had come to expect by now never arrived. The one piece of bread we were offered was cold and lacked taste, the butter it came with was hard, so I went for the olive oil instead, which was not interesting. At least when our food arrived, things quickly went up. Our 7 course menu wasn’t as extravagant as it sounds. We had:

• Celeriac Veloute with truffled ricotta dumplings - was a wonderful starter. The soup was complex, while not overpowering. I really wanted to lick the plate.
• Slow Poached Breast of Pheasant with pickled carrot and watercress salad, aniseed emulsion, nibbed cocoa - this was my favourite dish. The pheasant did not have the strong flavour I expected with game, but more gentle somehow.
• Pan-Fried John Dory in Crisped Couscous with Baked Piedmontes red pepper, olive Polenta & Basil Tapenade Crisps - the skin was nice and crisp, with a lively sauce that paired well with the fish
• Breast of Irish Duck with Warm Config Leg Terrine, Savoy Cabbage, Vanilla, Pear & Chestnut - this was to be the “main” course, but in fact was tiny. I couldn’t taste the Irishness in the duck, but the one bite we had was wonderfully gamey and soft. I wish I had more.
• Ardi-Gasma with Fig Chutney and Crozier blue ice-cream - I thought we were getting cheese ice-cream, but it was not to be. This was just a nice, blue (and expensive of course ) cheese.
• Homemade Vanilla Yoghurt with Poached Blackberries and Ginger Biscuits - this was a palate cleanser rather than a real dessert, tasting like a nice yoghurt.
• Milk Chocolate and Orange Custard Cake with Milk Chocolate & Tea Ice-Cream, Citrus Reduction - with a name like that, I was expecting a lot, but it was not to be…..

Rating - 8

Atmosphere

Deane’s looked very good, and from the people who were there, couples all dressed up, and also business travellers who bought up a storm, it seemed that Deane’s has definitely captured their market. It’s definitely a place to be seen, with huge windows situated so high that you need to really peen to look in from the outside. We sat on the banquette sitting that ran along one side of the restaurant, just past the bar, but far away from the open kitchen, so we couldn’t see the chefs at work.

Rating - 2

Service

I couldn’t believe they offered this sloppy service in a Michelin Star restaurant. I put it down to not being able to get good staff to come to Belfast. Things started off well enough, with a polite greeting, then being shown to our table. Things started going downhill from there. We were ignored, after ordering our drinks for 15 minutes. We weren’t given any menus at all, and no amuse arrived. When we were finally given some menus, no one explained anything to us. There were only 2 choices, the 5 course or the 7 course. I wanted the 5 while Slokky, as usual, wanted the 7. They weren’t flexible enough to accommodate both, even though that’s all they offer, so we had to choose the 7 course. While I was trying to make the decision between the two, the waiter actually recommended that we get the 7 course, because the “French cheese is very expensive”…Well, I just couldn’t believe my ears. Not only did he not know about the food, he was making a recommendation based on “expensive” cheese.

Things certainly didn’t look up from there. They were slow and not attentive, and inconsistent. I was watching them intently, and noticed that they did different things for different tables.

Rating - 1

C-factor

Very expensive for what it was. While the food was good, I have been to lots of Michelin Star places that offered more for less money, it’s probably because they don’t have much competition in Belfast.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 11

Info

36-40 Howard Street
Belfast
BT 1 6PF
Phone +44 (0) 28 9033 1134
Website

Slug & Lettuce America Square 2

Back again to taste the Autumn menu.

Food

Unfortunately, the Autumn menu doesn’t measure up to the Summer menu. We sampled:

• baby mozzarella balls - ummm, they can’t really get this one wrong.
• baby peppers filled with cream cheese - very nice, sweet cream cheese with a hint of heat
• giant grilled peppers - nicely charred
• Japanese-style chicken skewers - quite sweet, with succulent chicken
• mini lamb skewers - forgettable
• Ciabatta Bread Strips and Dip - Olive-oil-topped ciabatta strips, with red pepper tapenade, pine nut & basil pesto, houmous and balsamic dipping oil - bread was good, dips were oily and tasteless
• King Prawn Toastada - Toasted soft flour tortilla, topped with melted Cheddar cheese, herb-marinated king prawns, vine cherry tomatoes and cucumber, with seasonal salad leaves, lemon mayo and balsamic oil. - a bit soggy and cold as it was served opened, but the flavours worked well together.
• Mushroom and Pea Risotto - Wild mushrooms and garden peas in a rich Arborio risotto, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil. - salty and hard rice
• Sun-Blushed Tomato Pasta - Tubes of pasta in a tomato sauce, with sun-blushed tomato and melted baby mozzarella balls.
• Lamb Shanks - Slow-cooked lamb shank, in a red & Madeira wine sauce, sweetened with redcurrant jelly, with rosemary and mint — served over buttery mashed potato, with roasted winter vegetables. - nothing exciting about this, and the pasta was a bit overcooked.

It was a very long wait for the food, so that all I had in my stomach for more than ½ hour was by Pina Colada (£3), which was on special.

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

Despite the free meal, the place was relatively empty, which was all the better. There were no loud groups here this time, so we were able to enjoy conversations…and I’ve discovered the comfy couch, much better than the loo spot they put us in last time

Rating - 2.5

Service

We arrived just after 7pm, but we didn’t get to eat until after 8pm. The waiter was very nice about it and apologised. It did make a wait a bit more bearable. And it wasn’t just because we were eating for free too, everyone else seemed to have to wait ages for their mains.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

Another free meal, although not as filling or nice last time, they were very generous again I’ll be back to taste the Winter menu!BTW - those spelling mistakes are what's printed on the menu.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 12

Info

1 America Square
London
EC3N 2LS
Phone +44 (0) 20 7702 2381
Website

Woo Jung

When I lived in Strathfield, I went to very authentic Korean restaurants all the time. Heck, my wedding reception was at a Korean restaurant, so it had to be an understatement to say that I am quite familiar with Korean food and I have really missed it since I got to this country. So when I happened to be needing some food near Tottenham Court Road, I knew exactly what I wanted.

Food

I wasn’t that hungry, so I ordered the Gimchi jjige (£5.50) - Spicy soup with kimchi and bean curd cooked with either beef or pork, which like described, had plenty of heat. Besides that there were a few pieces of soft marinated meat, and also a bowl of boiled rice, which worked well to counter the heat and to soak up the juice of course. Slokky had the Dolsos Bibimbab (£6.20) - Vegetables, beef and steamed rice in hot stone pot, which I must say, was not as good as the ones we made at home, but the mix of rice and hot bean paste and half cooked egg still works a treat. Food was definitely good enough for us to come back and try – especially the BBQ.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

We arrived around 9:30 and the place was still packed, with people staying behind to pick at the leftovers to their food and to chat generally. Not much in terms of décor, but they do have a semi-open kitchen, and that’s why I can see the wait staff weren’t doing their jobs properly!

Rating - 1.5

Service

Terrible! I was expecting much better, especially from a Korean restaurant! So they are not as good as the Japanese, but when I ask for something like tea, I expect it to be delivered at the beginning of the meal, not at the end after we had to ask another 5 times. The only thing that came quickly was the bill, but it

Rating - 2

C-factor

Not really that cheap, well, not compared to Sydney anyway.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 11

Info

59 St Giles High Street
London
WC2H 8LH
Phone +44 (0) 20 7836 3103

Incognito

As my Toptable points were expiring, we had to use them up quick. Incognito was rated one of the highest out of all the places we tried, so off we went for our “free” meal.

Food

Since we weren’t paying, we felt we should order still water (which to this day I still feel is a huge scam) as well as a Merlot (£7). They had a few choices by the glass, so I was happy with mine. The set menu we were given for the free meal was a subset of their “normal” set menu, with about 3 choices for each course. This was fine by us. Entrees were the Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Red Pepper was not a good choice. They don’t really know how to make proper pasta. The sauce was not too bad, but nothing to write home about. The Fillet of Mackerel, Beetroot, Potatoes and Wasabi fared better. We’d probably been spoilt lately, as I didn’t feel any excitement with this dish, even though the flavours pared quite well.

The Wild Mushroom Risotto was a bit dull too. I am still on the search for nice risotto at a restaurant. The best dish of the day goes to Rump of Lamb, Spinach Flan, Diced Tomato & Tarrogon Jus, which was juicy, with a strong sauce.

The portions were small, so we decided to go for the desserts. As usual, the Pear & Almond Tart, Creme Anglais got my attention, but it wasn’t that great. The tart was nice enough, a bit sweet, but otherwise dull. I had never been a great fan of pavolova, so I wasn’t excited about the Berry Pavolova, however, it did meet my expectations, and is probably as good as any pavolova.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

Incognito was divided into two halves. We were seated away from the bar and the buzz, and indeed, the room was half empty. What’s worst, the place had some sort of cold draft drifting through it. Add to it the high ceiling, and the room feels very cold indeed.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Because we were seated away from the crowd, it was hard to attract any attention. However, once we did get attention we were served quickly and attentively.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

We came here as part of our Toptable reward meal…but as drinks, desserts and service weren’t included, and we were charged full price for those items, our meal ended up costing us quite a bit. I have a feeling that it would’ve cost the same if we ate here on a special Toptable deal as at least our desserts and drinks would be half price…oh well, next time we know when we go for the free meal…get tap water only and don’t be greedy for dessert! At least the food was nice, if the portions were towards the small size.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11

Info

117 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8AN
Phone +44 (0) 20 7403 8403

Kazan City

Kazan City was a very variable experience. With more consistency, this would be an excellent night out.

Food

The drinks menu looked great, so I ordered one with lychee...it was not really for me. We decided to get some mezzes to share for entrees. The Kazan Mezze Starter (£12.50) consisted of:

• Hellimi (pan-fried Cyprus white cheese)
• Humus Kavurma (humus sprinkled with small chunks of lamb and pinenuts)
• Kisir (tomato and herb salad with nuts and bulgar)
• Fallafel (broad bean, chickpea and vegetable fritter)
• Imam Bayildi (stewed aubergine, tomato and pepper)
• Tabouleh (parsley salad with mint, lemon, bulgar, tomato and onion)
• Borek (filo pastry filled with feta cheese, spinach and herbs)
• Manca (baby spinach leaves with strained yoghurt and pepper)

The Seafood Mezze Platter (£13.95) consisted of:

• smoked salmon
• Deep Fried Prawn
• Deep Fried Mussel
• Tabouleh
• Drunken Kalamari (squid marinated in vodka)
• Humus
• Tarama (blended cod roe, lemon juice and olive oil)
• Kisir

In hindsight, it wasn’t a great idea to get platters to share, as you couldn’t really divide everything evenly, and the flavours got muddled up. The highlights for me were the various salads and dips…while the seafood just got cold and soggy.

One of our mains was excellent while the other was only so-so. The Ottoman's Grill (£13.95) - marinated until tender, a selection of lamb and chicken shish, fresh poussin, lamb chop, garlic sausage and kofte. Served with a choice of rice or chunky fries was nowhere near as good as it sounded…it was generous, but the meat wasn’t that tender and juicy and tasted not that different. The Hunkar Begendi (Sultan's Delight) (£12.95) - Gently stewed lamb with spice, presented on a bed of smoked, pureed aubergine on the other hand, was a revelation. The aubergine was silky smooth with that smokiness which made the dish to die for, while the lamb was melt in the mouth. I would come back for this dish alone.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

The place was packed to the rafters, with City workers it seemed, and very noisy. We got one of the prime spots though, a banquette in the corner and we were seated very comfortably. Some of the seats in the middle of the packed dining room probably won’t be as great. The décor looks great, if a bit ikea like, with purple the dominant colour.

Rating - 2

Service

The service flared as well as the food. We were met with warm and efficient, yet others got our order wrong and forgot the drink order. They didn’t bring the chips with the ottoman grill, and after we asked, they only delivered one serving even though two people ordered. One waiter actually said to us that it was her first day and she couldn’t take orders….so what could she do then? One waiter was really ditzy, but when we were leaving, everything went smoothly, and about 3 people thanked us on our way out…I am hoping the hiccups were all caused by new or inexperienced wait staff and that the service becomes more consistent.

Rating - 2

C-factor

Very cheap for a night out in the city, and they don’t skimp on their portions.

Rating - 1.5

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

34-36 Houndsditch
London
EC3A 7DB
Phone +44 (0) 20 7626 2222
Website

Signor Zilli

I didn’t really mean to go to an Italian restaurant again the day after La Figa, but they were having a special of 3 courses for £9, so I did my duty.

Food

We went for the special 1980s menu, not expecting much, but Signor Zilli certainly delivered. There was a choice of 2 for each course, so we ordered everything!

Entrees of Prawn cocktails didn’t disappoint. It is still a classic. The Mixed Crostini consisted of 3 mini toasties with toppings of various levels of tastiness, but there was nothing there that offended. The mains were more of a standout, the Chicken Kiev with rice was very moist and one of the better chicken dishes I’ve had. The Penne with Spicy Sausage had excellent pasta and a tasty, strong flavoured sauce. Desserts didn’t sound promising, but the Cassata with pistachio, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice-cream was simple and delicious. The Apple Pie came with mandarin sorbet as we didn’t want cream….which was a bit odd. I’ve definitely had better and this was probably the worst of the lot tonight, but it’s in no way a bad pie, just didn’t match up to the other excellent dishes.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

It was very very busy, with many people being turned away. No wonder, the restaurant was tiny! We were squished on a tiny table for the 6 of us, but that was partly our own fault as people RSVPed very late. All the better I say, for that intimate Italian experience. In terms of décor, a little tired, but if it wasn’t so crammed with people, would be a nice cosy experience.

Rating - 1.5

Service

The waiters were definitely ran off their feet, but they handled it well, and always with a smile. We were served with professionalism and a genuine warmth. If only there were more like them.

Rating - 4

C-factor

Cheap cheap cheap, on their 80s deal. 2 courses for £6, 3 courses for £9.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

40 - 41 Dean Street
London
W1D 4PY
Phone +44 (0) 20 7734 3924
Website

La Figa

Hearty Italian in the East.

Food

I had been warned that the portions were huge, so I was going to skip entrees, but then everyone else wanted to order entrees, so I went along with it. The Antipasto Misto All’Italiana (£7.95) suited me perfectly as I couldn’t choose an entrée from the huge list. My plate consisted of :

• mixed cold cuts
• black olives
• tuna and bean salad
• prawn and eggs with thousand island dressing
• Tomato and mozzarella

, which were all quite nice but nothing outstanding, but definitely very filling. For mains, I opted for the Monkfish Mariniere (£23.95) - Monkfish, Mussel, Clams and Langoustine in Tomato Broth. I actually purposely ordered this so I didn’t have a mountain of pasta to deal with, still the dish was huge enough that I couldn’t finish it. I was sad about it as it was absolutely gorgeous. I haven’t had Italian this good since I was back in Oz. Needless to say, no room for dessert, but I heard they were excellent too.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

From the outside, La Figa looks like just another Italian restaurant. It’s situated inside an apartment complex, with nothing in the way of décor to convey anything special. The only sign you get is the display of some huge desserts as you walk in the door. I think the people here make up for the lack in atmosphere.

Rating - 2

Service

Well, for a change, all the waiters were Italian. And they serve you in typical Italian style. They treat you like family, but aren’t really serious about anything.

Rating - 3

C-factor

For the portion size, this is definitely a bargain.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

The Mosaic
45 Narrow Street
London
E14 8DN
Phone +44 (0) 20 7403 8403

Galvin at Windows

Although Galvin does not have a Michelin Star (so far), it is one of those identified as a “rising star” in the Michelin Guide. That’s good enough for me.

Food

The food was excellent, which was surprising considering the view that is offered up. We started with an amuse of Salmon Tartare, which wasn’t that spectacular and tasted like some good quality terrine you can get from Waitrose. Things start to look up from there though, with the wonderful wood-fired bread, or maybe my Vouvray was starting to take effect. Well, I did take a picture of the menu so at least I remember what I was eating.

Entrees consisted of Warm Lincolnshire Smoked Eel, Seared Foie Gras & Caramelized Victoria pineapple, which was excellent, with a nice smoky flavour, and the foie gras pairing worked surprisingly well. The Poached Scottish Lobster Salad, Mango & Herb Fromage Frais was more delicate. You can really taste the freshness of the lobster.

We were definitely psyched for the mains, and they didn’t disappoint. The Fillet of Scottish Beef, Pommes Fondant, Red Onion Marmalade and a Madeira Jus came recommended, and the fillet was definitely worth the extra money. Soft and melt in the mouth, with an excellent rich jus. The Pot au Feu of Poulet Noir & Stuffed Salsify Lettuce. with Foie Gras was actually more disappointing. I don’t usually order chicken at restaurants, but who could go pass Pot au Feu? Despite the presence of truffle and foie gras, I found that there wasn’t enough flavour in the chicken. The accompaniment of vegetables were nice, but also suffered from the lack of flavour.

Things look up again with desserts, both the Hot Chocolate Fondant, Schzuen Pepper Ice-Cream & Almond Milkshake, with its oozing dark chocolate, delicious ice-cream and cute as a button almond milkshake (which incidentally tasted like the Chinese almond dessert), and the Peanut Butter Parfait and Cherry Sorbet, with that heavy peanut taste with a tart cherry sorbet, were absolutely delicious, not to mention looking spectacular.

We were ready to call it a night, as we had been there for nearly 2 hours already, when they bought out some more sweeties to tempt us. The Raspberry and Lime Marshmallows were sublime, and if I wasn’t so full, I probably would’ve eaten a few more. The Madagascar, Orange flavoured chocolate too were sublime, but we were a bit too full to fully enjoy.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Galvin was buzzing on this Tuesday night. Almost all the tables were full. There seemed to be a mix of hotel guests and people celebrating a special occasion. And with that view, and the fact that you feel like a celebrity here, who could blame them. Next time, I’ll try for a table next to the floor to ceiling window.

Rating - 2.5

Service

I was very impressed with the waiters. Yes, they were French again, but they were very genuine, very effective, but didn’t feel the need to pour our water every 30seconds. They even came to apologise for the length of our wait for entrees, not that we even noticed.

Rating - 4.5

C-factor

The 3 course menu costs £58, with supplements for the lobster. Surprisingly we’ve had more expensive meals that were less enjoyable, so I think this is a great place for a special occasion, but only the fully loaded can afford to eat here often.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 15

Info

22 Park Lane
London
W1K 1BE
Phone +44 (0) 20 7208 4021
Website

Lanes Restaurant

Food

The bread was quite nice, but they served it with some rock hard butter. That always annoy me as it shows that not enough attention has been paid to the details. We decided to skip the entrees in favour of dessert. Well, it turns out we didn’t need to conserve as the servings were so tiny that we could’ve eaten everything twice and we still won’t be full.

Anyway, we had the Roast Rump of Veal with Spiced Lentils and Lemon Grass Emulsion (£25.50), which had succulent slices of veal. I wasn’t so sure on the lemon grass emulsion though, it tasted more like a mustard dressing to me. Still, there was plenty of liquid to coat the meat. The Ribeye of Scottish Beef, Jimmy's Chips & Peppercorn Sauce (£19.95) had been on their menu a long time and is one of their so-called signature dish. It was indeed very good. Nice and juicy, medium steak. I was looking forward to the much-hyped chips with their own name, and while it was good, I didn’t see anything extraordinary about it…and the fact that they only have you about 5, meant you really couldn’t try very much, especially after you’ve shared it around the table.

We went for the Glazed Lemon Tart (£5.50). I’m all for small portions, but this was seriously about the smallest portion I’ve seen. A very thin sliver arrived, which had the right balance of sour and sweet and a nice burnt sugar topping. The Banana Creme Brulee with Passion and Vanilla Syrup (£5.50) wasn’t as banana like or passionfruit tangy as I expected, but more restrained, which worked quite well together.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

The whole place felt a bit crowded even though it was a large space. This could be due to the fact that we were squashed up right next to the coffee machine, even though the restaurant was only half filled. Every time they used the machine, we couldn’t carry on any conversations and had to wait for them to stop.

Rating - 1.5

Service

The restaurant was relatively full on this Wednesday evening, but they only had 2 waiters serving everyone, which meant service was extremely slow and it took a long time to get anything. I don’t think it’s the fault of the waiters, they were nice and efficient, but obviously can’t handle the volume of people. We had to ask to get more water, to order, to get menus and for more bread. By the looks of things, they probably only had one person working in the kitchen too

Rating - 2

C-factor

The portions were really small for the price. If we didn’t have 50% off I would feel really ripped off. The wine and water reflected the expensive city prices, with a bottle of still costing £3.75. The wine had such a mark-up that we didn’t even want to drink any. All in all, it didn’t leave a nice taste in the mouth, and no, I won’t be back.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 10.5

Info

East India House
109 - 117 Middlesex Street
London
E1 7JF
Phone +44 (0) 20 7247 5050
Website

Le Champignon Sauvage

Food

We were given some cheese puffs to nibble on while we peruse the menu. These were really really scrumptious, as they were still warm. Only one amuse, but the potato and leek soup with elderflower wasn’t to my liking. It was actually quite bitter, and not in the good way. This was served cold, so any flavour was subdued. Things started to look up again when we were offered a selection of bread. I chose the bacon brioche, which was amazing, both the texture and flavour. I could just keep eating this all day. As I had been eating all that heavy carbohydrates though, I was too full to try any of the other bread from the selection, so I don’t know how the rest compare.

I was surprised that there was no degustation menu, as I thought we could wind away a few hours by doing that, but they had a short menu of 2 or 3 courses, with about 5 choices for each. This is what we had:

• Dived Shetland Scallops - with Jerusalem artichoke puree, globe artichoke with liquorice root - my fault for ordering these…they suffer from the usual scallop problem of the UK, but I had forgotten as I had some amazing scallops in Bergen and was hoping for more. I have to say, they knew that the scallop wasn’t that tasty in itself as the sauce was quite strong.
• Bibury Brown Trout - risotto of wild garlic, roasted garlic cream - another Bergen item we were hankering for, and another letdown.
• Cinderford Lamb - smoked roasted onion, cep mushroom puree - the meat is definitely better than the seafood. The lamb itself was juicy and full of flavour, so didn’t really need the sauce.
• Gloucester Old Spot Pork Belly - braised pigs cheeks, white asparagus cream, morel mushrooms - probably the best dish so far. Nice thick crackling, fatty pork belly. The cheeks was very soft and flavoursome too
• Salted Chicory Root Iced Mousse - vanilla rice pudding, rich chocolate sorbet -finally, something to show that this restaurant has two Michelin star. The dessert was a revelation, in the way that they have combined the different flavour and the way that this was presented, as a millefeulle type layer cake. The rice pudding was delicate, the chocolate sorbet was really rich, and the chicory mousse, out of this world.
• Bitter Chocolate and Olive Tart - fennel ice cream - again, excellent. You can definitely taste the olive in the tart, which paired surprisingly well with rich chocolate. The fennel ice cream just confirmed that savory ice-cream is the way to go!

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

I didn’t like the décor, but that’s just my personal opinion. They have thick blue carpet on the floor, and vibrant prints on the wall. It seemed to be a bit eccentric, but because they were a respected Michelin restaurant, they had to show restrain. The result seems to be a muddle of style. The front room was small, having only 2 couches, so it was difficult to have drinks there before going to the table. The dining room itself contained about 20 tables, of which only 5 were filled for today’s lunch. The room doesn’t seem that formal, but the service seems to suggest that it should be formal.

Rating - 1.5

Service

What is it with these types of restaurants and French waiters? The service was as you would expect from a Michelin star rated restaurant. Except for the owner who was helping out, the rest of the waiters seemed to be going through the motion. I couldn’t fault anything they did, but I didn’t see anything outstanding either.

Rating - 3

C-factor

We came away just under £100 for lunch, and that’s without any drinks, coffee or tea. Acceptable I suppose, for a Michelin place, but the food really didn’t live up to expectations.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 12

Info

24-26 Suffolk Rd
Cheltenham
GL50 2AQ
Phone +44 (0) 12 4257 3449
Website

Café Spice Namaste 2

Back to test the waters after a recent bout of Indian restaurants. The verdict, it’s still above the rest.

Food

Of course we have to start with Slokky’s favourite Papadoms (£4.20) + chutneys (£2.70) , which tasted pretty much the same as last time. Since we tasted quite a few of the starters last time, we decided to skip them in favour of mains. The Patra Ni Machchi (£14.95) - On a special occasion "Patra ni Machchi" is perhaps the one dish of which most Parsees dream. "Pomfret", the fish with which it is always associated, is not always easy to find, especially the one we use from the west coast of India. Whole pomfret is slit over the top and the central bone removed, stuffed with green coconut chutney, rolled in banana leaves and steamed. Served with salad and chapatti. was really really good. The fish was quite firm and really soaked up the excellent sauce, with a real depth of flavour. I tried my best to scoop up all the sauce from the banana leave, and the chapatti were a revelation. Fluffy and fresh…I could eat these plain. There was none of the mentioned salad, but I didn’t remember it was on the menu at the time. The Galinha Xacutti (£14.75) - I do not know how often this classic amongst the world’s greatest curries has been glorified on our menus. But for those new to us, this is the very greatest and intricate of all grand curries of India, with more than twenty-one ingredients. Each of the many spices and condiments need individual pan roasting before being puréed with roasted coconut. Hot? Yes no doubt! But full of flavour and gusto. Cooked this time with chicken, and served with garlic palav. Hmmm…. I don’t know about that long description, but the curry was certainly tasty….maybe it was the 21 ingredients doing their work. Café Spice sure know how to spice things up.

Apart from our normal lassi, we decided to test out other aspects of the menu by trying the Cheese, Chilli & Garlic Naan (£2.95) -Back by popular demand! It has a kick, and is quite addictive too. I agree, this was one of the best naans I have ever tasted. Even though we only ordered the mains and the poppadoms, we were still really full and had to yet again skip dessert. Now I can vouch, Café Spice this time around was even better than the last, except I still don’t see what the big deal is with their poppadoms.

Rating - 8.5

Atmosphere

Not as busy this time as last. The usual group of burly businessmen, maybe if you can handle the hottest curry you can succeed in business? Who knows.

Rating - 2.5

Service

Our waiter was charming and really nice. When I first ordered, I asked for a Garlic and a Keema naan. He was nice enough to inform us that since the fish came with chapatti and we already get nice, we probably don’t need so much naan. I like waiters with integrity.

Rating - 4.5

C-factor

Still expensive, but this time we used the Taste London card to get 50% off, so we could even come back again…

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 16.5

Info

16 Prescot Street
London
E1 8AZ
Phone +44 (0) 20 7488 9242
Website

Bali Restaurant

I was definitely missing Asian food. The thought of finding Asian in Cardiff was slim, but due to lack of other options, we decided to give this one a go, and it was a good thing we did too.

Food

We ordered from the cut price, limited menu, but there was still plenty of choice:

• Satay Ayam - skewers of succulent chicken – 2 skewers of surprisingly tender chicken, with a kicking peanut sauce.
• Pergedel - lightly seasoned mashed potato cakes with sweet chilli sauce – these actually came out last, which we didn’t mind. They were pretty ordinary, a little too oily and not packing enough flavour.
• Kari Ayam - Mayasian chicken curry – quite Malaysian, with a coconut and peanut dominant sauce, thick consistency
• Nasi Goreng - special stir-fried rice with chicken, shrimps, peas and eggs – surprisingly good. Not as much wok taste as I would like, but I don’t think nasi gorengs are meant to be like that? There was a good hit of chilli too.

All in all, a satisfying meal, because it was much better than expected!

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

The décor reflects the 80s. With cheap paper clothes on the table, worn furniture and cutlery and small tables. They are doing renovations to their downstairs restaurant, and the toilet is in plain view of all the customers….definitely not a place to linger, but if they are keeping their prices low, I can’t complain.

Rating - 1

Service

There was only one waiter, but then there were only 3 tables of customers. We were in a hurry as we needed to catch a bus, and the waiter was kind enough to cater to us. I originally wanted to order the laksa, but was informed that it wouldn’t be ready if we wanted to get out in time. I was really disappointed naturally, I had no idea they were actually going to make their laksa from scratch! He wasn’t particularly fast on anything, which had me worried at times, but true to their word, they delivered, so we even had time to spare at the end and could walk slowly to the bus stop, which was definitely what we needed after a big meal.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Very cheap if you get the special menu, but the food is good, so definitely worth the money.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

30-32 Caroline St
Cardiff
CF10 1FF
Phone +44 (0) 29 2037 4777
Website

Spice Quarter

Spice Quarter might be great for Cardiff, but for a seasoned Londoner, it was a letdown.

Food

The food was very ordinary, and for someone spoilt for great curries, was hard to swallow. They started off by giving us the normal menu, and it was only after we insisted, that they gave us the early-bird menu. Poor form.

We started with poppadoms, which contained only three different condiments, an onion pickle, the jam and the raita. It was nice enough, but I have had much, much better. The Gilafi Seekh Kebab (£4.70) - Minced lamb rolls char-grilled and coated with fresh herbs and coloured peppers were very heavily spiced, but went down quite well with the raita. The Chicken Malai Tikka (£4.70) - Glazed boneless cubes of chicken marinated with cheese, cream, royal cumin and cardamon, delicately grilled on charcoal and served with garlic chilli chutney on the other hand, quite plain, however the chicken was succulent.

For mains, the Shahi Chicken Korma (£8.75) - Chicken pieces seared and slow cooked in a smooth creamy gravy, flavoured with cardamoms. We recommend the Peshawari Naan to enrich the taste sensation was very bland, the flavour was one dimensional. The chicken was really tough as well. The Lamb Pasanda (£9.45) - Lamb braised in an almond and saffron flavoured yoghurt sauce. Great with Kulcha Naan was much better, but the lamb was tough as well, and even though the dish was not supposed to be hot, could do with a lot more flavour. Our accompaniment of Peshawari Naan (£2.65) - Saffron, nuts and sweet cherry naan consisted of not just coconut but some sort of dried up, hard thing…the nuts perhaps? I couldn’t identify it. A shame really because the tandoor work on the naan was quite good. The Lasooni Naan (£2.65) - Garlic naan was a much better choice, with a subtle garlic flavour. The lassi when they came, was nice and creamy, so that was good. Overall, passable but nothing to separate it from the thousands of other Indian with modern looks and big aspirations that don’t deliver.

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

Spice Quarter was nicely done up, in that modern Asian restaurant kind of way. However, I felt that they were trying to play cool, when clearly they weren’t. They certainly weren’t getting the kind of clientele the décor would suggest they were aiming at. Add the fact that they were quite empty on a Saturday night, when next door’s La Tasca was full and lively, suggests that something is not quite right.

Rating - 1.5

Service

The service was ok, but they didn't really seemed please that we were there. A smile would’ve been nice. Seeing that the restaurant was nearly empty, you would think they would be happy for customers. It seemed like after they had advertised in huge boards outside of the special deal, once you come in, they would squeeze everything out of you. We ordered lassis and tap water, of which the lassis were delivered, but I had to ask again for the water, even though I explicated stated twice when I was ordering I wanted water. The fact that they tried to prevent you from getting the special menu also left a sour taste in my mouth.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

Passable, but only just.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 8.5

Info

Unit 8b, The Old Brewery Quarter
Cardiff
CF10 1FG
Phone +44 (0) 29 2022 0075
Website

Tiffinbites Canary Wharf

I had my doubts about Tiffinbites, as I have my doubts about all franchises and chains, but Tiffinbites surprised me.

Food

The menu was a small but interesting representation of the food from the sub-continent, all grouped under the banner of “Indian” here. There were a few curries, thalis, puris and samosas, but not the variety you are used to seeing. We started off with the obligatory Mango Lassi (£2.50) - Fresh alphonso mangoes from India, blended with yoghurt. Refreshing and delicious, which was actually very nice. Not too sweet and thick enough. They don’t have sweet lassis on their menu though. We tried the Nihari (£13.95) - Slow cooked lamb shank blended with an explosive mix of herbs and spices. Nihari is one of our hidden gems, served with white rice, side salads and fresh naan. Watch out, it's a spicy one., which was rated as 4 chillis in heat rating, but I would say it’s more like two. The lamb was not quite melt off the bone, but the flavour was complex and interesting, the spicing lifting it above your average Indian. Served with nice and some plain but not outstanding naan, and a very sad side “salad”. The King Prawn Masala (£13.95) - Freshwater king prawns cooked in a rich, exciting tomato and coconut sauce. Served with white rice, side salad and fresh naan. was also pleasing, in that sweet British curry kind of way. Four large prawns swam in a pool of tomato based curry. I prefer this over Wagamama, which is right next door, any day.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

Looked very funky and done up, with swirly purple walls, a big bar area, and of course, Bollywood movies showing on plasma screens. They have gone for the modern clean look, which I guess works well when you are trying to attract “Western” clients.

Rating - 2

Service

There was no one dining and a few waiters just standing around, so I was expecting them to do a bit more, which they actually didn’t. We had to chase them to order and to pay. Still, at least the food came quickly and because there were no people, we didn’t have to wait.

Rating - 2

C-factor

Very expensive for an Indian, but at least they delivered good quality food.

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 11

Info

22-23 Jubilee Place
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5NY
Phone +44 (0) 20 7719 0333
Website

The Prince Albert

The Prince Albert definitely exceeded my expectation, from the quality and generosity of the food, the excellent service, the excellent house wine and the price. I envy the Camden locals.

Food

I knew I was onto a good thing when I tasted the Bread with butter that was laid out for us. Soft and fresh, simple really, but surprising how many people get it wrong. We decided to skip entrees in favour of the yummy sounding desserts. So, for mains, I ordered Saltmarsh lamb cutlets, aubergine puree, slow roast tomato, rosemary mash and port wine sauce (£13.95) 3 pieces of tender, still pink and juicy cutlets, accompanied by aubergine puree, a huge slab of creamy mash. The only letdown was probably a huge flavourless tomato, which was actually cooked very well and just let down by the ingredient. Slokky had the Chargrilled 12 oz aged Scotch Rib of beef cutlet with green peppercorn sauce (£22.95) a huge and generous piece of steak that was scotched at just the right places. The accompanying sauce and huge pile of fantastic, very golden chips made it a struggle to finish. The vegetable salad was fresh but didn’t seem to have been dressed.

Desserts were written up on a blackboard, but for some reason, the blackboard was not correct, and we had to look at the menu instead? Anyway, the menu sounded yummy so we didn’t mind. The Hot chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream and caramelised bananas (£3.95) – yum. Rich dark chocolate, lovely vanilla bean ice cream….the bananas weren’t that caramalised but were nice anyway. The Valhona Chocolate brownie with orange crème fraiche (£3.95), though, sounded much better than it was. The crème fraiche was a bit boring and the brownie a bit too sweet.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

I love The Prince Albert. Downstairs is a casual and lively bar, with a fantastic but very crowded beer garden. Upstairs, an open dining room with mismatched wooden chairs and table, chandelier, big windows, gold mirrors. The dining room was full on this Thursday night, and no wonder, with these prices I’ll be surprised if they are not packing them in every night.

Rating - 2.5

Service

It’s a bit more casual than a restaurant, but they delivered where it counted. I was made to feel very comfortable, the food arrived in good time (not too fast and not too slow) and the waiter made sure everything was ok, but only did it once and was genuine about it. They did make a mistake on the bill but that was fixed up very quickly.

Rating - 4

C-factor

Even without the 50% off and the free bottle of house wine (worth £13), I would still say it was good value. Our bill for 3 came to £34.61 including service, which was absolutely fantastic.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 16

Info

163 Royal College Street
London
NW1 0SG
Phone +44 (0) 20 7485 0270
Website

Wagamama Canary Wharf 2

I know, I came back, but there isn’t really much choice for a quick meal at Canary if you don’t fancy the sandwich variety.

Food

I decided to give the ramens here a go, and picked an old favourite in Australia, to see how they do it. Salmon Ramen (£9.55) - noodles in a pork and chicken spiced miso soup topped with a grilled fillet of salmon, seasonal greens, menma, spring onions, wakame and carrots. Garnished with mixed sesame seeds is actually very different to the Australian one. The soup is actually not that bad - if they had not masked it with loads of chilli and made it too salty. The salmon is definitely worst than Oz, but they cooked it well, so it was still pink in the middle. The noodles are very pleasant too. The Ebi Raisukaree (£9.50) - stir-fried black tiger prawns in a coconut and lime curry sauce with ginger, galangal, chillies, coriander, green and red peppers, red and spring onions and mangetout. Served on japanese-style rice and garnished with sliced red chillies and a wedge of lime is a dish I haven’t encountered before, and never again. It reminded me of the kai sen gohan I had last time, except this time, the rice seemed to be drowned in a pool of curried oil. That’s right, you can actually see the oil floating on top of the sauce. The sauce itself was quite acceptable, so another nice dish was ruined.

Rating - 5

Atmosphere

Because we arrived early (before 6pm), we managed to grab one of the prime spots – a 2 person table right by the window, with a view of the shopping centre traffic below. This was great as we could watch everyone come and go, including two very busy new mums….

Rating - 2

Service

I have to say, Wagamama Canary Wharf has one of the better service of all the Wagamamas I have been to.

Rating - 3

C-factor

As usual, I never visit Waga unless I have a 2 for 1 voucher, and this was no different. So…value was ok, but would I ever pay full price for this? No way.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11

Info

Jubilee Place
45 Bank Street
London
E14 5NY
Phone +44 (0) 20 7516 9009
Website

The Real Eating Company

Food

We were already full from our first lunch, and was originally only stopping by for some dessert, but the menu just sounded too tempting, so we ended up sharing another starter for our second lunch. The Dorset crab salad with tomato (£8) was beautiful. Wonderful, fragrant and sweet crab meat, with a dash of dressing and roe, with fresh salad leaves, tomatoes. It was the perfect dish for a summary afternoon. The rest of the menu sounds very tempting, but we definitely didn’t have the stomach for that. Oh yeah, the cappuccino (£2.50) was bad...but useful if you're thirsty since it came in a huge cup.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

We managed to snare a table out on the pavement, where we pretended to be yuppy types, eating our lunch in the sun, posing in our weekend gear and checking out the traffic. It was actually quite nice, and I can actually imagine myself doing that… if I make £100,000 a year… I actually expected to see the communal table here, but they haven’t implemented that. Instead, big wooden tables are the go, and a counter full of cakes on display. There’s also the “deli” upstairs where you can pick up goodies, or enjoy a cheese platter.

Rating - 2.5

Service

Very very friendly. There is table service, but for some reason, Slokky ordered at the counter? Well, that meant we couldn’t tip the waiters.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Well, as expected for Hove, it’s not cheap, but then again, the quality of the food was excellent.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

86/87 Western Road
Hove
BN3 1JB
Phone +44 (0) 12 7322 1444
Website

Slug & Lettuce America Square

I wasn’t so impressed by Slug last time I visited, however, promise of a free tasting of the new summer menu lulled me back, and I have changed my opinion of them.

Food

Since they weren’t getting my business, I felt that I had better order some drinks, so the Guiness (£1.99 for ½ pint) was my contribution. We were served two platters which consisted of :

• Olives (£2.45) -Green and black olives, in an onion, garlic & pepper oil mix - nice and juicy, but otherwise…just olives
• Ciabatta Bread Strips and Dip (£3.25) - A selection of red pepper tapenade, pine nut & basil pesto and olive-oil-topped ciabatta strips, served with balsamic dipping oil - the sauce was not too strong, but the bread was soft.
• Tempura Prawns (£4.25) - Large king prawns, in a light tempura batter, served with a sweet chilli sauce, seasonal salad leaves and an orange & poppy seed dressing - beautiful batter, which surprised me. Nice and crunchy, but not too much. In fact, it was quite light and offset the prawns nicely.
• Chicken and Dips (£4.50) - Southern-fried-style chicken breast pieces, served with spicy Reggae Reggae Sauce® and sour cream - has a bit more taste than your frozen food variety, but that’s about it.
• Roasted Veg and Brie (£5.25) - Warm roasted peppers and red onion with melted Brie, in crunchy baguette, served with chutney - delicious flavour, but didn’t really work in the bread as it made the bread extremely soggy.
• Chicken Caesar Wrap (£5.95) - Warm flour tortilla with chicken breast, Parmesan and cos lettuce, in a Caesar dressing - I really like this one, moist chicken, excellent dressing
• BBQ Chicken and Bacon (£6.95) - Chicken breast, with crispy bacon, Cheddar cheese and a BBQ sauce, in crunchy baguette - another winner, the bread had depth and the saltiness of the bacon was offset by some nice BBQ sauce.
• Bruschetta (£4.25) - With pine nut & basil pesto, roasted vine tomatoes and melted fresh Italian mozzarella - a bit cold when I had it, but the tomato was sweet and the mozzarella had flavour … so it should’ve been good right?
• Cumberland Sausages (£8.25) -British pork sausages - ummm, pretty unremarkable.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

This Slug at Tower Hill is definitely better situated than the one at <>. It’s an old converted factory, with high ceiling and bits of exposed beams from the old factory. The space is large and tables spaced out. There are areas with coaches, tables, niches, all spread out around the place, so you never felt it was too noisy. There’s another area for groups to use, and indeed there was a group there having their trivia night. So, great space, but there weren’t that many people there on this Wednesday night, so things could feel a bit quiet, but Slug County Hall can definitely learn a thing or two from this Slug.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Surprisingly warm. We found it a bit difficult to get any attention, but once we went to the bar to ask, they gave us plenty of attention. We were shown our table, made to feel comfortable, reassured that our food would be served soon, and when we asked for water, they were more than willing to oblige. This was surprising, for such a casual place and the fact that we were eating for free.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Well, it was FREE, so I can’t complain, can I? Having said that, the quality was good enough that I actually would pay the price they stated on the menu for them…but nothing more. I thought we might have to do some sort of evaluation at the end of the night, but we weren’t asked for anything, so effectively, we just got a free meal and a nice night out.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 13

Info

1 America Square
London
EC3N 2LS
Phone +44 (0) 20 7702 2381
Website

Phoenix Palace Chinese Restaurant

I don’t know whether or not I was looking forward to this…afterall, I’ve not had a good yum cha experience in London yet.

Food

The menu was strange, a lot of old favourites were missing, but in a way, it was pleasing to see some new stuff, especially on their “specials” menu. We ordered:

• Prawn dumplings (£2.70) - thick skin, pleasant filling, a bit small though.
• Pork & prawn dumplings (£2.50) - not a strong pork taste at all, it was very different to what you usually get, and not in a bad way
• Prawn & chive dumpling (£2.70) - disappointing and bland, with very bad skin
• Chicken claws in black bean sauce (£2.30) - sauce was a bit too weak, but cooked nicely
• Barbecued pork buns (£2.30) - quite nice, moist and not too fatty
• Vietnamese crispy spring roll (£2.40) - not enough filling and ordinary
• Briny pork croquettes (£2.20) - haven’t had one for ages, but this one was again too small, so there wasn’t enough meat to fill the thick skin.
• Rice pasta roll with prawns (£4) - fresh prawns, but paper rolls were not that smooth
• Rice pasta roll with mashed beef (£3.40) - bland, maybe their soy sauce is not strong enough?
• Baked egg tarts (£2.30) - again, very very small, you can put the whole thing in your mouth in one bite, but at least the pastry was very good.
• Liquid gold custard bun (£3.8) - different and one of my favourites, with the salty and sweet working well together
• Garlic spare ribs cheung fun (£4.5) - the sauce was again too subtle, but the pork was poached very nicely.

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

We arrived quite early for Sunday lunch as we knew there would be a rush later on, and so it was very quiet to begin with. By the time we left, at around 1pm, the party was in full swing. I was happy to see a mixture of Chinese and others, mostly with family, coming along. The décor reflects all other Chinese restaurants really, and they, like most places, don’t have trolleys.

Rating - 2

Service

Most of the staff can’t speak proper Chinese – any dialect, but at least they can speak English, so we did manage to get what we want. The level of service varied, some quite efficient, others woeful. We didn’t get asked about tea for about 5 minutes, and we had to order a waiter over to get some. As it was only 11am and there were not many people, I expected better. Little did we know, about a minute later, another waiter came over asking for tea. We explained that we ordered already, and she actually said to us, in broken Chinese, “Yes, but you better tell me if you actually want to get any tea”! After than that, and the fact that they kept wanting to clear things off our table, service was quite acceptable.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

This came to £12 p.p and we were reasonably full, but not bursting. Quite acceptable for London.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

3-5 Glentworth Street
London
NW1 5PG
Phone +44 (0) 20 7486 3515
Website

Barry at the Tureen

Barry at the Tureen is a breath of fresh air from the same old cookie cutter variety of restaurants you find nowadays.

Food

The food is simple, retro fare, carefully prepared. We started off with some nibbles in the forms of rice crackers! Then some fresh homemade bread, still warm from the often, spread simply with butter. I decided to pair my meal with a viognier 2006 French (£4). For starters I had the Mushrooms stuffed with crab and garlic, which were fragrant, beautiful, oily. The aroma hits you before the taste. A great start. The Fresh salmon cakes with a basil mayo was less successful, but the simplicity and the fresh ingredients lifted the dish from ordinary to something special.

Maybe because we were by the sea, but we decided to go for fish for the mains. The Marlin steak sauteed with lime and cream was nice and juicy, but as the steak was unadorned and the sauce very simple, the dish was really relying on the quality of the ingredients. However, the steak let it down in this case. The Scotch salmon boned escallope oven-baked with a red pesto, cheese and crumb crust had more flavour in the crust, but the fish itself was fresh, if a bit bland. So…still to be vowed by the seafood.

Desserts were varied, the Blackberry liqueur soufflee served frozen sounded interesting, and I even enquired how this would be served, but in reality, was just some very alcoholic ice-cream. The Gooseberry fool was more successful, rich, creamy clotted cream, paired with some sweet and juicy gooseberry. Very indulgent.

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

I knew before we came that this was going to be an intimate dining experience. Seating only 18 people in a small room with décor that reflects a past era, but in a tasteful way. We arrived first (in fact, we had the whole place to ourselves for one hour) and got to pick the best seat, right next to the bay window, so we could watch the passing parade. None of the décor was out of place, it made you feel relaxed, and reflected the style and presentation of the food.

Rating - 2

Service

Barry was there to greet us and made us feel welcome. We had a chat about our visit and how we should’ve visited the Royal Pavilion. I even had a chat with their waiter. Many are repeat customers and Barry knows them quite well, but he makes all feel welcomed. Service was very personal, but not so professional, which works quite well here.

Rating - 4

C-factor

Brighton is certainly not cheap, and our 3 courses was £25 each. They also add on a 15% service charge, which is even more expensive than London! At least their service was top notch, so they deserved it!

Rating - 0.5

Brownie Points - 13

Info

31 Upper North Street
Brighton
East Sussex
BN1 3FG
Phone +44 (0) 12 7332 8939

Pizza Express Canary Wharf 3

I’d never been impressed with Pizza Express on all my previous visits, but maybe third time lucky?

Food

After trying the pasta and the new style Romano pizzas, I thought my mistake has been that I needed to go for the classics. So that’s why we picked the Pollo ad Astra (£8.25) - Torn chicken and peppadew sweet peppers, mixed with cajun spices, garlic and red onions and the Parmense (£8.25) - A classic combination of flavours, asparagus, Parma ham and grana padano, then finished with a free range egg -We can cook your eggs hard or soft. Please let us know which you prefer. Well, even with the totally different toppings, it was hard to tell the difference between the two, so tasteless were the flavours. I commend them on the base, which was lightly charred and very nice, but the thing was let down by some flavourless tomato sauce and some plain flavourless cheese. You can imagine how little of the flavour they provide, as even I who prefers subtle flavours rather than bold, was complaining. The only things that had any sort of flavour were the peppers (there was 4 pieces on the whole pizza) and luckily, the ham, which edged the flavour of the Parmense up a notch. So, I think it’s a case of 3 strikes you’re not. I won’t be coming back again unless I am forced to.

Rating - 4.5

Atmosphere

I was surprised by the amount of people that were dining early there, like us. I guess it’s a very family friendly place. There were definitely more than your usual shares of prams there. I hope I don’t have to resort to these sort of places after I have a family though…

Rating - 1.5

Service

Same old, same old. Being ignored and having to wait at the front, really slow service even though there were many waiters. The waiters acting like they don’t really want to serve you…etc etc.

Rating - 1.5

C-factor

This time we had buy one get one free, otherwise, I wouldn’t really come here unless I really had to.

Rating - 8.5

Brownie Points - 13

Info

200 Cabot Place East
London
E14 4QT
Phone+44 (0) 20 7513 0513
Website

Zebrano at the Establishment

Food

Food was great for a bar, and ok for a restaurant. So, to take advantage of happy hour, I had Bellini – raspberry puree & schnapps topped with champagne (£8). I really wanted a peach one, but they didn’t have peach, so I settled for the raspberry, which tasted like medicine. The Lychee Martini (£7) – Vodka, Lychee Liquer, lychee juice, orange bitters was better, but probably too sweet for my taste. So, the drinks not so great, but the food was better. We ordered a selection of tapas and platters to share :

• Calamares Fritos Con Salsa Tartara (£4.50) – deep dried squid rings served with tartar sauce - just like it says, calamari rings, not that remarkable, but the tartar sauce was great.
• Brocheta De Pollo En Salsa De Habitas Con Estragon (£4.50) – skewered marinated chicken, split peas and tarragon sauce - juicy and tender, the sauce was subtle
• Pan De Nueces Tostado Con Ragu De Setas Salteadas (£4.25) – wild mushroom ragout on toasted walnut bread - very hard to share, so I dunno why it was tapas, as this came out as a pate on one piece of bread. I think the flavours was a little too strong on this, and made the bread too soggy to work.
• Chorizo Al Vino (£3.95) – Spanish sausage cooked in white wine - not much wine taste and not very juicy, but nice chorizo flavour.
• Queso De Cabra Frito Con Higos Y Miel (£4.50) – deep fried goats cheese with grilled figs & honey - surprisingly sweet, more akin to eating this as a dessert, especially with the figs and honey.
• Patatas Ali-Oli Con Azafran (£2.95) – Saffron and aloili potatoes - I thought this would be like the potato bavas that I always order, but they were like fat chips. Not one of their better dishes, the potatoes were not quite golden and crunchy enough, although the sauce was very nice.
• Tabla De Charcuteria Salada Y Dulce Con Parfait De Oca Y Pollo – Selection of Spanish charcuterie & foie gras parfait - the platters are definitely the best. This had a mixture of different, tasty charcuterie, with olives, gerkins, pickled onions making up the plate. The cheese and quince paste was a good offset, but what was the deal with the foie gras? How were you supposed to eat that as there was no bread provided?
• Delicias De Salmon Ahumado, Carpaccio De Atun Con Lima, Cobgrejo, Buey De Mar Con Aguacate Y Boquerones (£12.95) – Platter of different toppings with smoked salmon, lime tuna Carpaccio, crayfish tails ,crab, avocado * marinated anchovies serve on French bread - a good sharing plate. My favourite being the smoked salmon and sardines.
• Zebrano Platter (£11.95) – selection of chicken, chorizo & lamb skewers served with chunky chips and deep fried goat’s cheese - after the success of the other platters, I thought I would order this. While it was very good value as a platter, the food was all stuff that I’ve eaten before, except the lamb skewers, which was very flavoursome again.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

I was surprised there weren't more people at Zebrano. We were seated in a spacious corner of the room, prime for people watching. There were comfy coaches, little leather stools, and low tables, great for finger food, harder to go to eat stuff that fall apart, and to try to not get anything on your clothes. The room was painted red, with chandeliers and mirrors adding a glamorous feel.

Rating - 2.5

Service

The service was charming, with lots of flirting thrown in. It started off being a bit strange. I’d made a reservation, but they seemed to be very puzzled by it. However, I found there was a table reserved for me, they’d even printed out a sign with my name on it.

All the waiters would come and sit next to you when you order, which is quite personal, and I like. One of them kept coming around to ask if everything was ok, but they weren’t too intrusive. I kept thinking about whether they were on their best behaviour because we could pay whatever we wanted, or they behaved like that normally. Never mind, it was refreshing to have good service, and that certainly paid a part in the amount of money we left them.

Rating - 4

C-factor

Not many people know, but Zebrano has been trying an experiment where they don’t put a price on the food bill. Instead, you fill in what you think the food is worth and pay that. Well, I think their experiment was quite successful. Our food bill came to around £63, while the drinks were quite cheap as we ordered it all at Happy Hour, where it was half price. We decided to pay £15 per person, as we were quite pleased with everything. We could’ve paid £5 I suppose but I think they deserved their money. It didn’t seem like that many people were there just for the deals (hardly any Asians in site), and they could make a lot of money with the drinks anyway.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

18 Greek Street
London
W1D 4DS
Phone +44 (0) 20 7287 2051
Website

Arang

My first Korean restaurant in the UK, for a surprise birthday party. I have heard some good things about this place, so I was definitely looking forward to comparing this with the Australian Koreans.

Food

They had these Korean drinks on the menu, so I decided to give them a try. The Rice punch (£1.50) was very likeable, with a wok-fried rice flavour. The Cinnamon punch (£1.50) was also refreshing, but a bit medicinal tasting.

There were lots of choices on the menu, which we took a long time to debate, but we needn’t have bothered, as they strongly pushed us to have the set menu. That was fine by us as it saved us thinking, but what was not acceptable was the awful food.

These were what we were served, among others. (oh, and they can’t spell English either).

Appetisers:

• miso soup - very nice, but they can’t really get that wrong, can they?
• Kim Chi -Koreas famous preserved cabbage spicy pickle - a bit spicy, and again, yum. I was hoping they would bring some rice though.
• Suk Joo Namul - Midly seasoned green bean sprouts - yum
• Moo Namul - Thinly sliced white radish freshly seasoned - quite sweet and not too crunchy
• Oi So Bae Gi - Preserved cucumber spicy pickle - again, yum
• Shi Kum Chi Namul - Seasoned spinach - a tasteful and healthy side dish - as usual, my favourite
• Kak Doo Gi - Pickled diced white radish - the hottest and one of the best dish of the evening

After a good start, I am afraid things went downhill, and didn’t pick up again until the bbq.

Entrée

• sauce O Jin O Pok Um - Fried squid with vegetables & red pepper paste sauce - nothing really wrong with this, except they don’t give you enough seafood and this more resembled Chinese food cooked for Westerners than any Korean food I’ve eaten.
• Sweet & sour pork - This was becoming more Chinese as we speak. The pork was fried and didn’t taste of anything. The whole thing was covered in a sickeningly sweet sauce, so it was good that they hardly gave us any.
• Tang Soo Sae Woo - Shrimps battered, deep fried & covered with sweet and sour sake sauce - I was really disappointed when another dish with the same woeful sauce arrived. No wonder they wanted us to order only the sets, they just need to throw in different ingredients into the same old sauce.
• Yeon No Gui - Grilled salmon with terriyaki sauce - was the best of the entrees, but only because the other dishes were not up to standard. This was at least edible…

We deviated from the set menu here for a special request, the pork and oyster with kim chi wrap, which was interesting and quite nice! So maybe their food is not so bad afterall if you avoid the set menu. Still….they were the ones who steered them towards it, so I blame them. My mood didn’t pick up for the 2nd entrée, the Mo Deum Chun - Assorted meat, fish & vegetables, pancakes with sauce , which was cold, uninspiring, and all the meat and vegetables taste the same.

At last, the BBQ:

• Bul Ggo Ki - Sliced & Marinated beef - nice, but as the waiter didn’t leave us tongs, overcooked
• O Jing O Gui - Fresh squid with seasoned soya - quite tender
• Sei Woo Gui - Prawns with special sauce - big and juicy, but we had 3 to share between 6 people
• Pei Zhu Gui - Fresh scallop with seasoned soya sauce - again, overcooked because of the waiter. We wanted to cook it in the shell, but they deshelled it for us for no reason at all

We ended with Fruits, a half orange slice that was extremely sour and a couple of grapes to share amongst four. As you can tell, I was not impressed. As the evening wore on, I just got more and more annoyed at their antics. I won’t be coming back.

Rating - 2

Atmosphere

There were a few of us, so we got a “private room” at the back of the restaurant. This really just meant we couldn’t see anyone else and they couldn’t see us, but we could hear everything from the outside, including a very loud rendition of happy birthday.

This meant that we couldn’t observe what the other tables were doing, but the room itself was quite small, so we couldn’t really move around, and because of the noise, we had to shout to get heard. There were three grills built into the centre of the table, but no exhaust fans, so either they have not many barbeques or they have a very strong exhaust fan. Or the fact that they turn the air-con so it’s like 5oC in there might have something to do with it.

Rating - 0.5

Service

This was definitely below average, especially from what I’ve come to expect for Korean service. Maybe it’s because we were in a group, since reviews I’ve read always say their service is great. Let me explain. They virtually forced us to order the set menu because it would be easiest for them, so we did, and they still couldn’t get it right. People got all different food and more importantly, different amounts, even though we all got the same menu, as they suggested. I had to ask them several times for missing items, and they just said they were busy, but did eventually deliver. I wonder what would happen if I didn’t ask for it? The food distribution was extremely uneven. For example, we got ½ a plate of meat between 6 people, whereas 4 people got 1.5 plates.

Other unforgivable behaviour:

• spilling sauce all over one of the girl’s designer jacket and bag, and then having to fight to get the dry cleaning bill paid for
• carrying the hot used BBQ grill away, without even a drip tray or anything, while we were sitting there
• not leaving any tongs for us to cook our meat, so we had to use our chopsticks (which were wooden and not silver!!)
• not telling us how to eat anything or what anything they actually deliver are
• not letting us pay by credit card separately, and then after we convinced them we couldn’t pay the bill otherwise, took a long long time before we settled the bill

Rating - 0

C-factor

£28 p.p including service (really should’ve asked for the service back). It doesn’t sound like a lot, but the quantity we got were so tiny, I am sure all the boys, if not the girls, left hungry. Not to mention the very revolting nature of the food. At least it meant I didn’t pig out. Oh how I miss Strathfield Korean, right at my doorstep.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 2.5

Info

9 Golden Square
London
W1F 9HZ
Phone +44 (0) 20 7434 2073
Website